Subtle is a manual tiling window manager with a rather uncommon approach of tiling: Instead of relying on predefined layouts, Subtle divides the screen into a grid with customizable slots (called gravities).

Installing

Starting Subtle

To start Subtle add exec subtle to your .xinitrc file and launch Xorg. Remember that Subtle does not provide any icons or menus, and the only predefined key binding that opens a terminal is Super + Return, which will open URxvt. So if you don’t have URxvt, either install it or change the configuration file before starting. If you need to exit Subtle press Super + Control + Q.

Basic function

When windows are opened they are matched against a set of user-defined rules to get proper position and size. The process of applying these rules can be broken down in three main parts:

View

Gravity

Tag

Views are the environment in which the windows will be placed. Much like ordinary desktop surfaces. Defining the actual rules for a window is accomplished with a tag. In tags you also determine the gravity to be used. Gravities control the size and position of windows.

Note: When configuring Subtle you actually need to declare these elements in reverse order. Gravity, tag then view.

Configuration

Subtle will search for subtle.rb in your $XDG_CONFIG_HOME path. If it is non-existant it will load a default file from your $XDG_CONFIG_DIRS path. It is preferable to copy this file to your $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/subtle directory instead of using the default.

The default file will contain numerous gravities, tags and views. This is an excellent place to start when designing your own environment. Applications without matching tags will be placed on the view containing the default tag, if no view posses it, they are automatically placed on the first view.

To check your configuration file for potential errors, simply run the following command:

$ subtle -k

Sublets

Sublets are tiny apps that appear in the Subtle panels. They can be used to control various applications and show system stats.